SAN DIEGO — When Tony Carter arrived at Dove Valley to prepare for the Broncos' trip to San Diego on Sunday, he figured he would play only a little Monday night at Qualcomm Stadium.

Carter is Denver's fourth cornerback on a team that rarely uses more than three.

But when team doctors decided to leave starting right corner Tracy Porter behind because of illness, Carter suddenly was back in the game plan in a big way.

That decision on Porter moved Carter into the nickel spot and elevated normal nickel Chris Harris to the starting lineup.

With how Carter and Harris performed Monday night, it will be hard for Broncos coaches to leave either on the sideline much after the bye week, no matter when Porter gets healthy.

The two undrafted players — Carter out of Florida State in 2009 and Harris from Kansas in 2011 — delivered four of the biggest plays of the season for the Broncos' defense — all in the second half, as the Broncos rallied from a 24-0 halftime deficit to win 35-24.

"It's big time, just fight from the bottom," Carter said. "When you've got Champ Bailey on the other side, you know who they're coming to me and Chris. Whenever we get a chance to make a play on the ball, we have to do it."

Carter scooped up a Philip Rivers fumble and outraced all the Chargers 65 yards to the end zone. Just a few minutes later, early in the fourth quarter, Carter intercepted a deep Rivers pass and returned it to midfield, giving Peyton Manning and the offense good field position for another touchdown drive. The interception and touchdown were both firsts in his career.

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"I had thought about scoring a touchdown on a Monday night, but I never thought it would happen," Carter said. "Once it happened, I was kind of shocked."

Then it was Harris' turn. He intercepted two fourth-quarter passes, including one he returned for the game-clinching touchdown. Harris ran 46 yards, right in front of the Broncos' bench, for a score that gave Denver a 35-24 lead it would hold until the final whistle.

"These are grown men, but I feel like a proud dad," veteran cornerback Bailey said. "I've watched them grow, watch them work hard so they can be in position to do things like that. I'm just proud of the way they played."

For Carter, it was a fine end to a week that started with an embarrassing social media gaffe. Carter enraged Denver-area Broncos fans when he posted a message on his Twitter account last Tuesday night in which he made a tasteless joke about the Aurora movie theater shootings. Carter, who also missed a day of practice this week because of a stomach bug, quickly removed the tweet and posted an apology Wednesday morning.

Carter can consider himself forgiven.

"It's been a tough week for me," Carter said. "I'm just glad to make it through, and blessed to put this thing behind us, and just glad we got a win."

Harris said the big second half was the culmination of a week when the secondary routinely caught interceptions off Denver's scout team quarterbacks in practice. Still, neither of the young corners could have predicted their biggest games would come on such a big stage.

"I mean, that's how we practice," Harris said. "We practice hard every day, and that's why the coaches want us out there because they know we're going to fight every snap, compete every snap."

Lockheed says object part of 'sensor technology' testing that ended ThursdayWhat the heck is that thing? It's fair to assume that question was on the minds of many people who traveled along Colo. 128 south of Boulder this week if they happened to catch a glimpse of what appeared to be a large, silver projectile perched alongside the highway and pointed north toward town.

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